Ideas to get more views

[jhanby]

Hi fellow content editors,

Even with the stickies that are put up in my two sections (sound and Htpc), i'm not gettting a great amount of interest.

I though it might be a good idea to have a consolidated thread for us to share ideas on how to get views and bring in new writers.

Both of the stickies have 30 odd views and no replies.

I have setup a link inside of my sig which points people at one of my stickies.

How is everyone else bringing in the writers ?

Maybe a Forum-wide announcement announcing that there have been new content editors and who they are ?

Maybe also some sort of "reward" for writing articles ? like an extra "writer" rank, or something.

John

[ratbuddy]

I think article type folks already get a Contributing Member title don't they?

[Dolk]

We will some time in the future.

[I.M.O.G.]

Here's an idea of whats coming in the future to help you guys out. For now tho, if you guys have more ideas or suggestions, that'd be great.

Writers don't get any perks yet, but we are definitely interested in offering perks down the road. For now, I'm tracking contributions in a spreadsheet. Regular writers will get some sort of perk to reflect their time and effort, in addition to the recognition they already get on the frontpage. This is something we'll work out more clearly once we get wordpress going and things settle out. I'm interested in a badge system for the forum, but haven't yet had time to investigate it well. Basic badge perhaps for one-time writers, something fancier for regular writers (people writing like Dolk, once they get a few articles submitted).

Also around that time I'd like to make a forum wide announcement - that will give us time to figure out who is taking up the content editor role and is really interested, and who isn't really interested in putting in the time/effort. We can list the content editors in that announcement to bring in more attention.

I also spoke with iNet about a newsletter system - We want to send out a regular newsletter for the overclockers and the forums, but I won't do it until it has a built in "unsubscribe" feature. The forum software lets you send mass emails, but people cannot unsubscribe - too spammy for me to use. That is targetted for the end of the year.

@ratbuddy: contributing member title is gone, with the white stars. Instead, we have the content editor role with a custom rank.

[mdcomp]

Maybe a Content Editor sticky in Front Page Discussions and Forum Feedback, listing all Content Editors and some general ideas and guidelines for members looking to get involved.

Anyone want to draft one? (model it after Staff Status Thread (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=343631) and Forum Feedback FAQ (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=330466))

jhanby, I like the signature link. We should all get those going in our signatures just to get the word out.

Also, we will be using the Front Page Discussions section and all corresponding forum areas to get the word out about the articles on overclockers.com. It will take time to build a large following, but if we continue our efforts on all these different fronts we should be able to generate traffic.

Matt

[hokiealumnus]

mdcomp, I'll get to work on that draft today. Busy @ work so it might be this evening or tomorrow around lunch before it gets done, but I'll draw it up for you.

[hokiealumnus]

Good morning. FYI, my wife confiscated the laptop last night and I didn't get this thing done. I've now got an article to edit, so chances are it won't be done at lunch. Hopefully tonight.

[mdcomp]

No problem. Don't neglect your wife for OCF please!
;)

Matt

[I.M.O.G.]

Pace yourself Hokie, if you can get to it within the next week I think that's good. Thanks!

EDIT: mdcomp beat me to it. ah well. :)

[hokiealumnus]

Ok...first draft is done (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=621838). Comments, questions, additions, clarifications...anything you guys see that needs changing, lay it on me.

[Joeteck]

I've gotten Zero byte with the storage section...

[I.M.O.G.]

Looks great to me.

[hokiealumnus]

Thanks! You're the boss-man, so do what you will with it; it's your thread now. :D

EDIT - I didn't mean that as in, I'm done with it....just that you should move it / post it as you see fit. I'll still update it when things need updating ...editor changes, the stylesheet (which I'm happy to help with if you guys want another cook in that kitchen), etc, etc.

[I.M.O.G.]

Ask mdcomp about the stylesheet, he's managing that piece.

I'll let this sit for a bit before moving it, in case anyone suggests updates or changes. Easier when it's only in one place.

[mdcomp]

hokie, I could definitely use some help with the style guide. Please email or PM me!

Thanks dude!
:)

Matt

[hokiealumnus]

PM sent last night. :)

Ok...I've edited two grammar issues. There isn't anything else I can see. Anyone have additional input on the thread and how it might be improved? Thanks!

[I.M.O.G.]

Looks good, now what should we do with it?

I've added a link to it in my signature. To make it an announcement, we'd need to merge the posts into one - so that's a possibility, but it'd lose the structure it now has. We could copy it out to subforums, but that's a lot of places to keep it up to date at.

Thoughts/opinions?

[hokiealumnus]

Hmm...Maybe we could

1) stick the post in here or on the frontpage discussions (if I can edit it there of course),
2) make the first post (with links) an announcement and
3) leave the thread intact with the announcement just linking to its posts.

Once there, if they prefer not to click every time, they can just scroll down or hit 'back' to click on the links; whichever they choose.

If you decide to post it in all forums, I'll do my best to keep them all up to date, but you're right, it would be quite the pain to update.

[I.M.O.G.]

I'll do something about that plan in the next day or two, sounds good going with the announcement